I Just Got the Space in My Attic Opened Up--And I'm Feeling Strangely Glad.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I still live in the same house that I lived my childhood in–and may have even been conceived in :o . Understand that this is partly by choice–it is my home. And that is very important to me.

Anyways, as I’ve said many times before, I had a wonderful mother. And she was a very intelligent and skilled person as well. She finished our upstairs attic almost completely by herself–over thirty years ago now, in fact. (She used to tell me about the insulting remarks and insinuations the people would make at places she’d buy the supplies at. They couldn’t believe a woman could or would be able to do such a task.)

Now, we do not have a traditional colonial house. Our attic space is very cramped (although ironically, it also serves as a spare bedroom). The roof slants off to each side, with a ceiling of average height in the center of the attic. On one side of the attic, my mother paneled of the space and then created an opening with a small door–as a storage room. The other area, however, was closed off for good–and for all eternity as far as mother was concerned. She didn’t think we needed the extra space.

Now, tragically, my mother died a few yrs. ago. And my father and I are coping–usu. well, but sometimes just so-so. But for some reason, we seem to be inundated with all sorts of clutter. So…

We decided to open up the space. All my childhood I wondered what could be up there. The former owners are actually the ones who partially sealed it off. Who knows what they may have left there. When I asked my father as a child he just laughed and said: “Hangers!” Lots, and lots of coat hangers.

Well, is anyone else curious what I found up there (probably not, I know, but indulge me)?

There were lots of hangers (no surprise)! But they were all in mint condition. I always assumed they’d rust into oblivion. But apparently, lack of ventillation is sometimes a good thing for these items. There was an old advertisement circular–my father got a kick out of that two. A pack of men’s underwear sold for less than 50 cents! No definite date on the circular though. There was a wooden back piece to a real old radio (no radio though). A box full of shredded news paper. And another one that apparently once held a plastic drop cloth.

Sadly, despite my best hopes, there was no money or anything else of actual value. But something struck me as unique. There was alot of black soot up there. I’ll bet it all harkened back to when they had coal-burning furnaces.

For some strange reason this all amuses and facinates me–that this area remained untouched by time for so long. Oh, well.

Tah tah, for now :slight_smile: .

2

Okay, I know I’ve spent too much time on the Internet when my first reaction was “My God, Jim got himself trepanned!” I stand corrected. :smiley:

Don’t you hate getting access to a place like that, with all the potential for treasure, and finding nothing? I got into the attic of an old house I used to rent a room in (the house drawn in Bloom County, for those who care), and figured there had to be something of note up there somewhere. Besides some of the original archetecture which had been built over some many decades ago, all I found was an Old Milwaukee beer bottle from 1965. One of those little brown squat ones.

The real treasure I found in my room when I was taking one of the latches apart in a set of pocket doors: a button hook, which someone had poked into the latch hole and dropped inside. I’m guessing it was a child from the days when button hooks were laying around the house. How long has it been since those things were in common use? Eighty years? A hundred?

Needless to say, I kept it.

3

This thread seems to be the equivalent of Geraldo opening Al Capone’s vault.

Still, I’m glad you had the satisfaction of finally opening it up and satisfying a childhood curiosity. A rare thing, that.

4

Be happy you didn’t find your twin brother you never knew you had in a shoe-box, that may of been upsetting.

5

I’m glad you got to find out. I rented a house in college for 2 years and the whole staircase and attic were locked. Needless to say, there was much speculation about what might be up there, particularly b/c we could often hear things moving, sometimes us against the door. From the outside we could sometimes see birds and bats flying around the roof eaves, so we figured that’s what it was, but sometimes it just seemed like there was something BIG up there…

Last year a friend told me the guys who rented that house after us (who we knew) finally broke the lock and opened the door, saw dead birds and a squirrel on the stairs, and quickly closed and locked the door again, so no one ever did go up to the attic.

A friend of mine when I was little had a house with a secret passageway in it. Coolest Thing Ever. We spent a lot of time looking for treasure in there.